When you hear what Marine Sgt. Dakota Meyer did on the battlefield in remote Eastern Afghanistan, it sounds like some Hollywood war movie gone wild, written by a screenwriter who had to be smoking something. But it’s not.

Two years ago, then Cpl. Meyer, later promoted, was 21 when he ignored orders to play it safe and set out in the dark in a soon to be bullet-riddled Humvee to rescue fellow Marines and Afghan fighters pinned down or wounded by withering Taliban fire that decimated his unit.

Standing by Meyer Thursday, President Obama read the hero’s tale, which just sounded so Super Heroic, some may have wondered, could one Marine do all THAT? To hear him tell it, a young corporal heard Marines radio for help after they were ambushed a mile away, ignored officers’ orders to stay put, that it was too dangerous, and raced into the “kill zone” to haul out the wounded, the bleeding and dying. Not once, not twice…but 5 TIMES. In all Meyer rescued 23 Afghans and 13 Americans. Read the rest of this entry »

Who would have dreamed Los Angeles prosecutors who once sent detectives all over the world to investigate charges Michael Jackson was a pedophile would now be fighting to defend the late pop star’s reputation, trying to keep damning evidence against him they once worked so hard to collect…OUT of court?

Yet, in the manslaughter trial of Jackson doctor Conrad Murray in Los Angeles, where a jury pool was selected this week, you won’t hear much about the pop star’s past drug abuse —- or past molestation trials and tribulations from 1993 to 2005, when Jackson was acquitted of sexually abusing a 13 year old former cancer patient.

What you will hear are charges his $150,000 a month doctor allegedly failed to monitor Jackson in his own bedroom, where he died of a drug overdose in 2009 from a powerful anesthetic called Propofol, aka Diprivan, a milky white fluid one anesthesiologist tells me is known to be quietly abused by some medical professionals for its fleeting sexual high. He called the short-acting hypnotic ideal for surgery if given in a hospital setting, but risky without vital sign monitors and a doctor watching them.

Sleepless and under unfathomable stress for five days as hostages of “crazy gunmen” in a five star Tripoli hotel, CNN’s Matthew Chance and dozens of international journalists were released Wednesday morning after a harrowing chapter in the life of even the most seasoned war correspondent.

“We were hostages,” he said Wednesday on CNN, something he was cautious about conveying in his live reporting until now, fearful of how AK-47 armed guards might react if he described the terror he and others were experiencing as Tripoli was falling to rebels outside, and journalists negotiated with guards who could not believe or accept fate after more than 40 years of a dictator’s iron rule. Read the rest of this entry »

As a cub reporter, I covered the King’s funeral after he died of a drug overdose on Aug. 16, 1977, and tromped through Memphis woods to dodge security and get a closer look, then returned for the first anniversary of Elvis Presley’s birthday, Jan. 8…

Both dates are sacred pop culture days to remember, to mourn and celebrate for millions of fans who consider Memphis Mecca and virtually deify Elvis, a lightning rod for that Nascar demo of voters no Presidential candidate can do without.

But Michele Bachmann (R-Mn.) may have to after blowing a shameless, no brainer attempt to align the heart of her candidacy with America’s bedrock voters, Elvis fans, calling for an all-out, Hound Dog, Blue Suede appreciation of the King on his Birthday… Read the rest of this entry »